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UFC pushes forward with Versus deal and politicks in Ontario for MMA legislation
By Zach Arnold | March 24, 2010
The 1.1 cable rating for UFC on Versus is kind of ugly. While I didn’t predict the ratings number, I did sense that UFC would have trouble carrying the Versus brand as a platform. The next UFC show on Versus will air on 8/1 in Oakland, California.
Dana White did some politicking in Toronto on Tuesday, answering fan questions and drumming up support for UFC. (Not a hard thing to do in Ontario.) The Globe & Mail also did an article on White’s visit to Toronto. More articles on the situation with getting MMA legislation in Toronto: The Hamilton Spectator | The Canadian Press | Global BC | CTV
An interesting discussion in today’s New York Times about the closed circuit event at Radio City Music Hall in New York for Saturday’s UFC PPV event and how Madison Square Garden is interested in bringing in MMA events.
The cesspool that is Xyience’s past keeps surfacing.
King of the Cage is coming to Reno this weekend… with Mike Kyle fighting on the card. Ugh.
Joe Benavidez talks about how life has changed since his win over Miguel Torres.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 33 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Versus show did around 1.25 million. A low end Fight Night on Spike does around 1.75 Million. I agree that rating isn’t good. I think the next Versus UFC show will be a much better indicator. See if they can create growth. Keep in mind many DirecTV subscriber didn’t realize they had Versus for this show. I will say if the next show can’t do at least 1.5 Million, that Versus needs to become the feeder show and any high level talent should be off the channel.
Rampage signed a new 6 fight contract with the UFC. Looks like their issues are resolved. Rampage, much like Tito, is a lot of talk with their only goal is getting more money….
Fedor vs. Werdum is being announced as signed for June. This fight will be as competitive as GSP vs. Hardy. The only difference is that GSP basically has cleared out his division. Fedor, not at all.
LOL, hasn’t Rampage said he fights to make money since like, when he was in KOTC? I said it before and I’ll say it again – the “He left to be a movie star” thing was totally transparent and anyone who thought it wasn’t a contract issue right away was either nieve, stupid, or both. I’m sure he’s getting paid more now this time around too – good for him. Can’t wait to see the Evans fight.
Gotta back Alan here. He was the very first on here to post that the “retirement” was total BS. Others said so as well, but Alan replied to the news of the retirement with a quickness not seen since…… not seen since….. uh…… it was fucking quick!
Here’s my problem with the “he hasn’t cleared out the division” meme.
What’s everyone outside of Lesnar and Mir, who I think are legitimate gripes for not fighting, done to be more deserving than Sylvia, AA, Rogers or Werdum?
Carwin – outside of KO’ing a bevy of scrubs (inside and out of the UFC), his biggest accomplishment is being as big as Brock Lesnar and being a strong wrestler. The biggest win on Carwin’s resume is Gonzaga – hmm….Werdum’s taken him out twice now, but Werdum’s not a good opponet while Carwin is?
JDS – he’s burgeoning on joining Mir and Lesnar and holds a win over Werdum*, but his biggest win(s) are Gonzaga and Cro Cop.
Velasquez – his recent victory over Nog is also bringing him up there, but he’s not any more “accomplished” or “deserving” than Werdum.
My take is that Fedor has the fight with Werdum and then most likely Overeem/Rogers. Then he’s done and we’ll see where he goes from there. IF the fights he’s taken while staying out of the UFC are Sylvia, AA, Rogers, Werdum, AO/Rogers rematch…well then I fail to see how he’s running from top comp. From his personal standpoint, he was able to get huge paydays b/c competitors see him as the point for competing with the UFC and the money on the table from the UFC will only grow as he continues to beat top 10 figthers.
If he fights out his contract with Strikeforce and then goes to Japan, well then he should lose #1 status. But for now I don’t see what the issue is…for now.
Dan Hardy is the next best challenger to GSP for guys who have not fought him. Perhaps Paulo Thiago, but the guy is even saying he isn\’t ready. Fedor has Lesnar, Carwin, Mir, Cain, & JDS who would all be legit challengers to him, and he has fought one of them. They are all worthy challengers, and anybody who has seen their fights knows this.
Stop drinking the M-1 Koolaide…. You said: \”If he fights out his contract with Strikeforce and then goes to Japan, well then he should lose #1 status. But for now I don’t see what the issue is…for now.\”
I don\’t buy it. People have been saying that since 2006. And they always justify him being ranked #1, even when he was fighting Choi and Lindland. The guy has not beaten a legit Top 5 fighter since Mirko Filipovic in 2005. And don\’t tell me Arlovski was Top 5 at the time. The guy phantomly rose through the rankings and ahead of guys he had not business being ahead of off of wins over Rothwell and Nelson…. Neither of those guys can compete with the current level of the top UFC Heavyweights.
Fedor is not testing himself. I\’m saying the guy shouldn\’t be #1 anymore…. Especially with the report that he just signed a new 3 fight deal with Strikeforce. Werdum is the last Top 10 Heavyweight he has left to fight outside of the UFC. Why sign on for 3 more fights when there is only 1 guy left for you, and he isn\’t even much of a challenge?
The Fedor bullsh!t should come to an end. The guy has no real care to test himself against what is obviously an increase in talent level from years past. Instead, he wants to fight Werdum. His management is already ducking Overeem… Who is overhyped based off of his Buentello win anyways….
Unbelievable. And yet the fanboys (not specifically saying you), ride his nuts and every word he or his management says. In any legit sport, the press would have bashed and completely exposed his crap. The guy wouldn\’t be ranked in the Top 5 after the reporters really told the real story and didn\’t act like fanboys who just want to cheer on a guy ducking fighters….
Arlovski, Sylvia, and Rogers were all top ten on pretty much every reputable site in the mma world 45. With, Arlovski being #2 and Rogers being as high as 3 I believe.
I agree. It’s a total injustice. The US should go ahead and declare war on Russia for harboring a terrorist as terrible as Fedor. How dare anyone want to make as much money as possible, as opposed to fighting for the glory of being the hero of anonymous Internet posters?
There is the whole thing of him having defeated 5 former UFC Heavyweight champions (as opposed to your Lord and Savior Brock’s 2), and that he massacred their common opponent Heath Herring in far more brutal fashion, but hey, when you’re right, you’re right. A 4-1, 11-0, and 8-0 fighter should totally be ranked ahead of the reigning 31-1 king of the division, who has finished 75% of his fights.
Let’s go ahead and dissect your claim with a breakdown of the fighters you listed as worthy challengers that Fedor is “ducking” (which you ignore the fact that as it is, he can’t even fight these people given the UFC’s refusal to co-promote)
Brock Lesnar: Has defeated a can, a veteran with a 2-3 UFC record that Fedor had already demolished years earlier and hasn’t fought in almost 2 years since, and two former UFC Heavyweight Champions (avenging a prior loss to one of them). One of those champions is a light heavyweight who was 46 years old. And that’s the most impressive resume of the lot.
Frank Mir: Another guy who would be actually be a viable challenger to Fedor IMO, yet has a record of 13-4 with losses to Ian Freeman, Marcio Cruz (remember him? He lost to Andrei Arlovski, who is totally washed up according to you yet somehow managed to beat the man who beat your man Mir, thereby making him the man, right?), Brandon Vera (LHW who has gone 3-5 since beating Mir), and of course to Lesnar. His most impressive win? Beating Nogueira, who Fedor had already defeated TWICE before, when he was younger and more in his prime. While I give him credit for submitting Brock, I’ll go ahead and ignore him beating Tim Sylvia, since you are so quick to dismiss Fedor’s win against Sylvia.
Shane Carwin: Really? 11-0, but his only notable win is against Gonzaga. Take out Gonzaga, and his other opponents’ combined record is 52-50.You like to bitch about Fedor’s inactivity against the top 10, then what about Carwin? Also, Gonzaga was defeated twice by Werdum, who you seem to enjoy diminishing when discussing potential fights that may actually happen for Fedor in the near future.
Cain Velasquez: Best win is against Nogueira, who once again, was defeated twice previously by Fedor. Other than that, you have Rothwell, which in the same post above you knock as not being a worthy enough win for Arlovski to be a top 5 (or is top 10 now? Your ridiculous penchant for changing the goal posts may have you making asinine points like Arlovski wasn’t top 10 when he fought Fedor, I’m not sure now) fighter, and Cheick Kongo (who has lost to any remotely capable wrestler he has ever faced, including mediocre LHW Carmello Marrero). But somehow he is more impressive than Fedor.
Junior dos Santos: A fighter who I believe may become the best P4P in time, but not there yet. His best wins are against Gonzaga (who we have discussed at length above), Werdum (is beating Werdum impressive or isn’t? Make up your mind, 45 Huddle.), and a broken down Crocop (once again, already defeated by Fedor back when he was more of a legitimate threat). He may be there soon, but he isn’t yet.
So there, an analysis of the fighters whom you say are better than Fedor. On sheer numbers (31-1 gives him almost as many wins as all the others you’ve mentioned combined, a total of 6 wins over 5 former UFC Heavyweight Champions, 10 years without a loss, finishing his last 8 fights before the final round, his last 3 wins coming over fighters ranked in the top 10) and shared wins alone, he is still head and shoulders of anyone you’ve mentioned. I doubt you’ll even bother to reply to this, but rest assured, I will make sure to copy/paste this in response to your next “omg Fedor sux UFC rulz!!!1!” soliloquy on Fight Opinion.
And this is a problem because…..
UFC has caved in on 99% of all hold ups for more money. Why every fighter doesn’t hold them up for money once they co-main event a show is beyond me. It’s guaranteed money.
Another issue I think being overlooked (and I don’t know how much stock I put into your “Direct TV customers are so dumb they didn’t know what channels they have” argument since, you know, they advertised and stuff) is how despised Brandon Vera is after that craptacular fight with Couture. Even for free he’s a hard sell. And then you had Kongo who nobody likes. And rounded out with a bunch of fighters only popular to the internet fans is why the show didn’t do the predicted 2.0+ some people believed it would do.
I don’t see how the Versus rating is ugly. Versus is in 24 million less homes than Spike. Its UFC’s first show on a weak station very few people even know about.
The NHL playoffs on Versus does less than half of that rating.
A very, very good point.
How can you consider this a bad rating if they matched a SpikeTV UFN while being available to less viewers?
The UFC rating is the same that it always was over on Spike. I don’t see why there’s any great reason to assume they will see exponential growth on Versus for their next show given how nothing has ever exponentially grown on Versus ever. But that’s what we’ll hear being argued from now till a week after the next show (and maybe a couple more after that).
Early losses in an MMA fighter’s career don’t really damage a guy, so why is the UFC so committed to delaying Jon Jones entry into the upper ranks of the light-heavyweight division?
I think there’s an ulterior motive as to why they have decided Jones must wait such a long time to take a step up in competition. The UFC fears Jones will do to their top draws in the light-heavyweight division what he has done to their middle of the road draws and don’t want that happening until they get as much value out of their current light-heavyweight stars as possible.
If they give Jones someone with less skill than Vera for his next fight, that opponent could going to get seriously injured if Jones doesn’t take it easy on them. Jones needs to be fighting the top guys now, because they are the only ones who have a shot at not being seriously hurt by his brutal skills.
I’m not suggesting Jones be given a title shot here and now, but his next opponent should be better than Brandon Vera at the very least.
I wish UFC or boxing would get a Saturday afternoon network slot like boxin used to have. The Klitschko Chambers fight was only interesting for the trainers yelling profanity in between rounds. Bit it was a great thing to watch Saturday afternoon at 230 after I’d finished my honey-do list an before going out with my lovely lady for the evening.
If JDS were to beat Mir or Nog he’d have just as good a record ad Fedor and much better recently. Ok, Fedr zealots flame away.
Zach, if you want honest and worthwhile discussion on this site, consider temporary bans to individuals.
Exhibit A:
“If JDS were to beat Mir or Nog he’d have just as good a record ad Fedor…….”
oh no! How dare you post your opinion Defective Roadblock?
Hurry Zach you have to ban every person that posts an opinion that doesn’t agree with ajz123’s opinion of Fedor. We can’t have anyone saying anything that may be viewed as even slightly negative towards Fedor.
What’s my opinion of him Merlin? Learn to recognize troll-jobs.
It’s not so much a difference of opinion as a blatant troll, followed by an invitation of people he expects to be pulled in by it to flame him.
“If Andre Berto were to beat Alfonso Gomez, he’d have just as good a record as Manny Pacquiao. OK, Manny zealots, flame away.”
Is that a legitimate opinion offered by a person interested in civil discussion that advances everyone’s understanding of the game?
Yea JJ its funny. A certain few who will go nuts if anything but good is said about Fedor or Strikeforce, but if someone flames the UFC or anyone in it they are just giving their “intelligent” opinion.
JDS best wins. Werdum(yes I know horrible shape), Struve, Cro Cop, and Gonzaga. That of course isn’t on par with Fedor right this second but if he beats another top 5 opponent it will be close, where recent records are concerned.
What a baby.
Fedors best two wins are Cro Cop who JDS dominated and Nog who maybe is not what he used to be. Or maybe he is and is just fighting better comp.
Randy shut out Sylvia and Werdum and Sykvia sent Arlovski packing from UFC. That puts Brock an Mir above those guys. JDS beat Werdum. If he were to beat Mir or Brock he’d have just as I
pressive a resume as Fedor. Obviously minus the Zulu, Lindland, and. Hong Choi Man fights.
Fedor’s career path right now reminds me of Joe Calzaghe. Promoter conflicts prevent guys who really deserve title fights from getting them, meanwhile he fights the #10 or #13 guy in the world and blows them away. You know on paper that he can go with the best, but what’s on paper and what really happens are different things.
His fights for Affliction keep him, for me, out of the space where you start to talk about wanting to delist him. But if we’re still here a year from now with no movement one way or the other, who knows?
I wouldn’t be shocked either to see someone like, say, Junior Dos Santos, make a jump over to Strikeforce in due time. I mean, if Lesnar ends up losing the title in his next performance, its going to set back some of their prospects, particularly him, a long ways. Dana is on record saying he doesn’t want Cain and JDS fighting one another, and I had always heard that the plan was to keep Cain, Carwin, and Lesnar on different paths so that they only meet for the title, if ever. You start having some title switches and a round robin of sort going on, someone is liable to get left out. Whoever does can become a vaunted free agent.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/3/24/1388361/jorge-gurgel-frustrated-eager-to#comments
Now it is Jorge Gurgel complaining about not being able to get a fight with Strikeforce.
You can tell he is trying to be nice in the interview by saying he is happy with Strikeforce…. But then goes on to bash them about their organization and their choice of using Herschell Walker….
Until they’re in breach of contract, does it matter?
It’s not good business to have a reputation of pissing off a lot of fighters. It can’t help them and future negotiations.
Where else is someone in Gurgel’s position going to go? Exactly.
I agree Strikeforce has more fighters than they need, but turning this into an issue is stretching things. I like Gurgel, but they simply have never had much of a 155/160 division and he knew that going in. So unless they lied to him and said “Yeah, Jorge, we’ll build a division around you and use you as our ace!” I think it’s not a scandal. And he really should have attempted to drop to 145 for WEC or signed with Bellator. But enough Monday Morning Agenting.
FWIW, I know Gurgel kinda well, and I like him, but if you prod him correctly you’ll get tons of words back. The guy is a very outgoing personality and can really get going with the words.
I think if it was only Gurgel complaining it would be one thing. This is like the 5th guy to have complaints about this sort of thing. It’s a trend….
45 Huddle,
We get it. You hate Strikeforce and want everything in this world not the UFC to burn into utter damnation. You hate Fedor. You hate Strikeforce. You hate Dream. You have everything that is not Dana White and the UFC.
BUD!!!! WE GET IT!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!
You can simply stop posting your thoughts and just put down “45 Huddle Standard Statement” and we would ALL know what you mean. Ok? Please….either leave the site or cut it down, but your bashing it so mind-numbing…..please, leave the site like you said you were (and did for all of two weeks)
Yeah because I wasn’t critical of the UFC’s rating on Versus. And I have been saying this entire time that GSP vs. Hardy is the greatest Welterweight Title fight ever!!
The MMA media isn’t doing their job. The fighters who have the power to be vocal are. I’m sure many more are angry about not getting fights in Strikeforce but do not have the power to say anything.
This is a huge issue for the sport right now. Probably one of the biggest issues out there. And it’s basically being ignored by most of the MMA Media.
The MMA Media is used to watching promotions sit guys for months and months already. The UFC does it with some regularity. Until fighters take action (i.e. try to claim its a breach of contract), there’s no story.
The UFC sits title contenders in order to fit to a schedule. The rest of their roster fights pretty regularly, which is on average 3 times per year. They are extremely organized in so many ways.
Strikeforce fighters have been reporting the following problems:
1) No timetable on when their next fight might be.
2) Lack of communication including fighters being unable to talk to a person from Strikeforce to get answers.
3) Fighters finally being given fights, but with less then a normal time period to prepare for the fight.
It doesn’t have to be a breach of contract. These are basic fighters rights that are being ignored. The press should be coming down hard on Strikeforce for this.
Xyience is the Enron of energy drinks
I think if there are 5 UFC guys who aren’t happy with their schedule they have the brains not to say anything.